I read on several websites that Chris Angel (the magician) was Greek Orthodox.

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Troparion - Tone 1:O Sebastian, spurning the assemblies of the wicked,You gathered the wise martyrs Who with you cast down the enemy; And standing worthily before the throne of God, You gladden those who cry to you:Glory to him who has strengthened you! Glory to him who has granted you a crown!

You cannot be a practicing homosexual and go up for communion, just as a heterosexual who has sex outside the bonds of marriage cannot go up for communion.

Same-sex attraction in and of itself is not sinful. It's what you do with it that potentially can be. If you are chaste, you can go to communion. I don't know anything about Michael Huffington, so I can't speak about him, but that is between him and his spiritual father.

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"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jer 29:11

Quite honestly, about people changing their last names when they came to America... I know quite a few people who have done it, Russians, Greeks, Poles... During the Cold War it was definitely better for Russians to have "un-Russian" names in some cases. Greek names... well, I could think of several insulting ways to rearrange "Anastassakis."

I have a bunch of Greek friends (and currently a Greek roommate) who's names are very easy to twist around. One of my brother's best friends gets called "Prophylactics" at school, and it's only 2 letters changed and 1 letter added. Kids can be cruel and some people would rather their kids not be teased.

So, in defense of Jennifer Aniston's parents... perhaps they were doing what they thought best for their kid(s).

This is true. My last name is an Ellis-Island imalgimation that turned a Hungarian last name into something looks Greek and sounds Spanish. I have a friend who is of Russian descent and his last name is Smith.

I know many Indian friends who's names seem to include every letter of the alphabet and go by "American" names like Vic or Kevin.

It's not about cultural shame but rather trying to fit-in in a new environment.

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"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jer 29:11

Does anyone know if Bear Grylls of "Man vs. Wild" is Orthodox? I see the show from time to time in parts, seeing him do all sorts of strange things in strange places, taking his clothes off all the time (today he got naked in Siberia) and drinking his urine (today in Namibia). I saw the beginning for the first time and noticed not only did he cross himself but did so in the Orthodox fashion. My sons told me "he always does that."

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Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything so that he may do it no more.A hasty quarrel kindles fire,and urgent strife sheds blood.If you blow on a spark, it will glow;if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth

Yes, Tina Fey is Orthodox and half Greek; I saw once a rerun sketch of Saturday Night Live, when she use to do the news segment and made a cross (Orthodox Cross) when she mentioned an actor who died ( a skit).

Are professional tennis players famous enough to count in this? If so, there are bunches of them. Novak Djokovic from Serbia, the number 3 player in the world, crosses himself regularly in his matches, and in the Orthodox way. Why he is doing this all the time I am not sure, but he does it. Maria Sharapova wears an Orthodox looking cross sometimes when she plays. None of this is conclusive of course, but they must feel a connection to some degree. There are many more but no one seems to care about tennis other than me.

Are professional tennis players famous enough to count in this? If so, there are bunches of them. Novak Djokovic from Serbia, the number 3 player in the world, crosses himself regularly in his matches, and in the Orthodox way. Why he is doing this all the time I am not sure, but he does it. Maria Sharapova wears an Orthodox looking cross sometimes when she plays. None of this is conclusive of course, but they must feel a connection to some degree. There are many more but no one seems to care about tennis other than me.

Speaking of sports stars, Oksana Baiul, the figure skater from Ukraine who out-competed Nancy Carrigan in the 1994 winter Olympics, is an Orthodox Christian.

Jewish people love to make lists of Jewish celebrities too, so it's not uncommon to do so...I've heard that they consider Jesus of Nazareth to be one of theirs...go figure...

That's because his Mom is Jewish..

I've heard that Celine Dion is Melikite

I wonder if our former Govorner here in Maryland Spiro T. Agnew ( the great) was Orthodox ?

Yes, her Husband Renee' is Syrian-Arab (Canadian Citizen). He is Greek Melkite Catholic Church, in keeping with the faith of the baby's father. (Melkite Christians follow Orthodox rites but are loyal to the pope.) and Paul Anka is Syrian Orthodox (Syrian-Canadian) plus many many, and many more out there.

Originally posted Wednesday July 25, 2001 01:00 PM EDTCeline Dion and husband Rene Angelil baptized their 6-month-old son, Rene-Charles, on Wednesday in Montreal at a 40-minute private ceremony before 250 friends and members of the family -- and it sounds as though the child has quite a set of pipes in him, too. "Little Rene-Charles wasn't cut out for a big ceremony like that, because he cried quite a bit," Michel Jasmin, a Quebec TV host and family friend, told a Canadian radio station. Apparently, though, the baby stopped wailing when his mother picked him up and held him. The service was held at a chapel adjoining the Notre Dame Basilica in Old Montreal, exactly six months after the birth of Rene-Charles, and followed the rites of the Greek Melkite Catholic Church, in keeping with the faith of the baby's father. (Melkite Christians follow Orthodox rites but are loyal to the pope.) The Angelils arrived in limos, while their guests showed up in mini-buses, and the event attracted a crowd of curious onlookers. Montreal officials, reports Reuters, closed off streets in the city's historic district and rolled out a blue carpet at the entrance to the church chapel. Dion, 33, is currently on a three-year sabbatical in order to be a fulltime mother. She has announced that her comeback will take place in Las Vegas in 2003.

In Christ,Hadel

Ps: For extensive list with some tennis players on the list , please see Wikipedia (I know some do not respect the site but it is correct of what I read, mixed of Greeks, Eastern European and Arab nationalities):

Jewish people love to make lists of Jewish celebrities too, so it's not uncommon to do so...I've heard that they consider Jesus of Nazareth to be one of theirs...go figure...

That's because his Mom is Jewish..

I've heard that Celine Dion is Melikite

I wonder if our former Govorner here in Maryland Spiro T. Agnew ( the great) was Orthodox ?

I don't know if Celine has transferred rites (she's Quebecoise), but her husband is an Arab Melkite, and they had a second, Melkite, wedding.

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Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything so that he may do it no more.A hasty quarrel kindles fire,and urgent strife sheds blood.If you blow on a spark, it will glow;if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who can watch the watchmen?"No one is paying attention to your post reports"Why do posters that claim to have me blocked keep sending me pms and responding to my posts? That makes no sense.

Is this confirmed? It seems still more of a prediction from the press. If she does, than hopefully she'll actually go to church and learn how to not be a female dog. (Just look up all the incidents she's been involved in due to her temper to confirm this.)

Are professional tennis players famous enough to count in this? If so, there are bunches of them. Novak Djokovic from Serbia, the number 3 player in the world, crosses himself regularly in his matches, and in the Orthodox way. Why he is doing this all the time I am not sure, but he does it. Maria Sharapova wears an Orthodox looking cross sometimes when she plays. None of this is conclusive of course, but they must feel a connection to some degree. There are many more but no one seems to care about tennis other than me.

Speaking of sports stars, Oksana Baiul, the figure skater from Ukraine who out-competed Nancy Carrigan in the 1994 winter Olympics

Yup, because Nancy Kerrigan had taken a rod to the knee from thugs working in cahoots with her American rival a few weeks before. (Tanya Harding is known for flying hubcaps, as well, but I digress.)

Are professional tennis players famous enough to count in this? If so, there are bunches of them. Novak Djokovic from Serbia, the number 3 player in the world, crosses himself regularly in his matches, and in the Orthodox way. Why he is doing this all the time I am not sure, but he does it. Maria Sharapova wears an Orthodox looking cross sometimes when she plays. None of this is conclusive of course, but they must feel a connection to some degree. There are many more but no one seems to care about tennis other than me.

Speaking of sports stars, Oksana Baiul, the figure skater from Ukraine who out-competed Nancy Carrigan in the 1994 winter Olympics

Yup, because Nancy Kerrigan had taken a rod to the knee from thugs working in cahoots with her American rival a few weeks before. (Tanya Harding is known for flying hubcaps, as well, but I digress.)

Sorry, I did not mean to say anything bad about Nancy Kerrigan (BTW, I apologize for misspelling her name).

Also, related to this as well as to what was said about Naomi Campbell: I remember being struck by the saying that "a perfect Orthodox" is an oxymoron. Oksana Bayul started as a little, naive, shy orphan girl from Dnipropetrovs'k, Ukraine, and then, after winning the Olympic gold medal, turned into a celeb, with wild parties and drunk driving and what not. But she IS Orthodox...

If you will, you can become all flame.Extra caritatem nulla salus.In order to become whole, take the "I" out of "holiness". सर्वभूतहितἌνω σχῶμεν τὰς καρδίας"Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is." -- Mohandas GandhiY dduw bo'r diolch.

Suddenly the Judge shall come, and the deeds of each shall be revealed, but with fear we cry out in the middle of the night, Holy, Holy, Holy art thou o God, Thru the prayers of the Theotokos have mercy on us and save us!

Suddenly the Judge shall come, and the deeds of each shall be revealed, but with fear we cry out in the middle of the night, Holy, Holy, Holy art thou o God, Thru the prayers of the Theotokos have mercy on us and save us!

Believe me when I say, he is doing it for the money, I have seen this in the Middle East. I have relatives who have Orthodox Icons in their homes and go pray in the Evangelist church, because they give them money to convert. Personal experience. For others, money first then they fall for the conversion.

Galich is one of my most beloved Russian popular singers-"bards" (folks who composed both the music and the lyrics of their songs and performed them, accompanying themselves with a Russian 7-string guitar), on par with Vladimir Vysotsky and Bulat Okudzhava. His lyrics is incredibly powerful, revolves mostly around the themes of Stalinist terror, the martyrdom of those who ended up in Gulag camps.

He was born into a family of Soviet urban intellectuals of the Jewish ethnic origin, raised atheist, but converted to Orthodoxy in the early 1970-s by Fr. Alexander Men'.

Yes, Tina Fey is half Greek and is Greek Orthodox (her husband converted for her). I have seen her personally on TV make an Orthodox cross during Saturday Night Live.

In Christ,Hadel

So does she cross herself before or after she performs a "black mass"...(HUMOR)

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Suddenly the Judge shall come, and the deeds of each shall be revealed, but with fear we cry out in the middle of the night, Holy, Holy, Holy art thou o God, Thru the prayers of the Theotokos have mercy on us and save us!

Suddenly the Judge shall come, and the deeds of each shall be revealed, but with fear we cry out in the middle of the night, Holy, Holy, Holy art thou o God, Thru the prayers of the Theotokos have mercy on us and save us!

If you will, you can become all flame.Extra caritatem nulla salus.In order to become whole, take the "I" out of "holiness". सर्वभूतहितἌνω σχῶμεν τὰς καρδίας"Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is." -- Mohandas GandhiY dduw bo'r diolch.